The non-governmental refugees advocacy organisation Refugiados Extremadura has called on the Spanish government to undertake “immediate” action to help those seeking asylum and refugee in Europe from violence in the Middle East, saying that the situation of the refugees stranded in other parts of Europe in mid-winter is now “critical.”

Following a meeting with the provincial government of Badajoz in Spain’s southern community of Extremadura, a spokesman for the pro-refugees NGO, Juan Zúñiga, called on Spain to take immediate steps to begin receiving more of the 16,000 refugees that the government has pledged to shelter as part of the pan-European Union agreement on refugee resettlement signed on Sept. 22nd.

Zúñiga said Spain had so far only taken in 18 refugees of the total 16,000 it had pledged to shelter in Spain, calling the country’s inaction “shameful” given that other European countries including Germany and Sweden have already honored their pledges to take in thousands of asylum-seekers.